Railway sleeper



Aug. 7, 1934. F. DE Rosslus DHUMAIN 1,969,062.

' RAILWAY SLEEPER F11 d July 8, 1952 Patented Aug. 7, 1934 RAILWAY s LEEPEn Fernand de RossiusdHumain, Brussels, Belgium,

assigner `to Socit ,Anonyme v` Tilleul', Belgium dAng'leur-Atlius, v

Application July s, 1932,. serial No. 621,458

y In Belgium July 9, 1931 1o claims. (o1. zas-'59) The invention relates to a system of railway sleepers which is moreparticularly intended for supporting the rail joints. l

It is known that', all things being equal, the best sleeper for the rail joint is that which provides the maximum useful supporting surface on the ballast. The sleepers which are known at the present time for supporting the rail joints suifer. however, from the 4serious disadvantage that they cannot'be packed or tamped rationally on account vof their height and the large interspacebetween their lateral walls, and that they do not lend themselves to the operations of packing up and of filling The present invention relates to fa system of sleepers permitting supports to be provided which have large carrying surfaces and do not suffer from the disadvantage referred to hereinbefore.

rfhe invention relates to a metal railway sleeper having a top terminated longitudinally on one side with a flange intended'to penetrate in the ballast to a depth between 4 and 12inches and on the other side with another flange the depth of` which is comprised between the 1/3 and the 1/6 of the depth of the first flange Without exceeding 2 inches.

The invention likewise provides various forms of sleepers which can be' easily made by rolling and which afford the advantages 'referred kto hereinbefore.V l

Figure 1 is 'a longitudinalview of the sleeper according to one form of my invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-section of Figure 1 taken along line A-B. 1

Figure 3 is a plan view of the sleeper.

Figures 4, 5 and 'show'sections of thesleeper perpendicular to the rail, corresponding to distinct constructionalforms.

Figures 7 to 1'0 relate to modiiications-of the sleeper according to the inventionl The top 1 of the sleeper,"'which top may be flat Vor arched (as shown in dottedllines in Figure. 2), is provided with Va longitudinal .flange 4 acting as the anchorage.' y 1 j The lower ilange 3 is of 'small 'height'so as not to constitute an obstacle for easy packing of the ballast'under the sleeper and for thefilling In order to provide the sleeper with sufcient resistance to bending, the top is provided with an upper flange 2 which is given the section required by the moment of inertia of the sleeper. Vertically below the rails, however, this flange 2 may be bent back at 8 and 9 to the level of the base of the rails so that the latter bear on the flange as well as on the top of the sleeper (see also Figure 5). Instead of turning -down the flange 2 by bending it as at 8 and-9, it may likewise be upset with dies. In each case, care will be taken to rgive to the bends8 and 9 or to the 60`l upsetportions 7 a s ulcient bearing surface vto prevent their friction on the rails from causing any detrimental wear to the latter. v At each of itsfends the sleeper` top is bent at right-angles to its axis, the two bent portions 5 and 6 being intended to act at one and the same time as feet for the Sleeper and as'lateral anchorages for opposing the transverse displacement of the sleeper.

In orderV to construct the feet 5 and 6, the entire arrangement, that is to say the top and its flanges, isV curvedy with the least possible deformation vof the latter.4

Thel transverse feet' or anchorages may` likewise be constructed Without the flanges 2, 3 and 4 at these places, or the said flangesmay even be incorporated .in the curved ends kof the top by stamping. Y I

It will be observed` that, due to the form of the top andthe small height of the flange 3, and'ta'king into consideration the normal distance between sleepers, the packing of the latter may be effected along asubstantially horizontal direction, that is to say, under ideal conditions as'regards speed and efficiency.

It will likewise be observed "that, due to vits substantially vertical position inthe ballast, the longitudinal anchorage, even during its alternating vertical movements, is unable to disaggregate the body of ballast acting as its :support,contraryto what occurs with the inclined flanges ofexisting metal sleepers.

The ribs 2 and 3 may be inclined relatively to the top of the sleeper and maylhave trapezoidal sections -to permit construction by rolling.

Another method of manufacture would be to roll the sleeper in the form of ka large flat section provided with the. double -rib 2-1-3, the Vat section being afterwards bent to form Ythelongitudinal anchorage.

lFigure 6 indicates vthe construction of a sleeper without-.a supporting plate..` Oppositethe rail and theffastenings, the top 1 is elevated and yis substantially on a level with the rib 2 in its bent section. This elevation may be made along the entire sleeper or may. be only provided vertically lbelow the rail. It may also be provided by means of a greater thickness of metal opposite the rails, which thickness will be obtained by a suitable form of the rolling mill rolls.

Y intended to penetrate in rio angle will thus be 90 With ilanges of the di figure, the top l is connected: to thelower flange v 3 by an undulation, the height of which is very accentuated. u y a Figure 10 shows another modification vof the construction of the metal sleeper, in which the: top 1 is extended slightly beyond ithelarge' 'flange 4 which is to penetrate the ballast.

In the various gures referred to hereinbefore, the longitudinal-'anchorage' makes an'angle yof 90 withY thevtop. vIn-certain eases, *this angle may likewise-begiven any value andfp'a'rticularly more than 90,fsay, for example, the'V angle corresponding'to the base which the body of ballast supporting the sleepersholild have.`v lThis for a base of :c y, Figure 2 for example, and more than 90 in the case of a base'ofy-ty'. l "i The depth vof the flanges set frthhereinbefore has been selected in order'to'permitthe tamping and lling Operations'necessary for 'the proper setting of the sleepers,l Y

'Fne operation yof tamping'consists fof compressing the ballast directly under thesleep'er with the aid of a pick or pick-hammer.

The operation of filling, which particularly has for its object the raising' of 'the V'track with precision; is effected in the following manner: the sleeper is slightly raised, thena flat shovel covered with'a thin layer'of a determined quane tity ofsinall broken stones is introduced* The shovel is removedr suddenlygandfv thejlayer of broken stones remains betweenV the'flat `portion of the vsleeperl and the mold. l v

f ensi'onsset forth herei inbefore, it vwill be possible to raisethe "sleeper to a 'height to permit'the introduction of aat shovel underthe short flange and` yet'the long iiange will still remain in the cavity formed in the filling material. Thus,` litwill -be realized that the present invention provides 'a'l device which has many outstanding advantages,

What I claim is: j i 'i v1. `A metal railway sleeper having aftop terminated longitudinally on one side with a ilange intended 'to penetrate fin the ballast toa Vdepth between 4 `and 10 inchesrand von the other side with another flange the depth of which'i'is approximately llthe depth of the rst ange.

2. A `metal railway'sleeper having a topv terminated longitudinally on one'side with a ange the'ballastrto adepth between 4 and l0 inches and on the other-side with anange ofV very'small depth withrespeot to the firstnange, an additional flangedisposed on the top above the flange of lesser'de'pth. f

to the first flange,

3. A metal railway sleeper having `a top terminated longitudinally on one side with a flange intended to penetrate in the ballast to a depth between 4 and 10 inches and on rthe other side with a flange of very small depth with respect tothe first flangasaidllanges being united to the topat an angle about 90".V

4. A metal railway sleeper having a top terminated longitudinally on one side with a flange vintended to penetrate in the ballast to a depth vbetween 4 and 10 inches and on the other side Ywith' a flange of very small depth with respect tothe Vfirsty ange, an additional ilange disposed on the tcp'abovethe ilange of lesser depth, said additional fiange being turneddown at -the place ofthe rail so as to constitute a supporting surface for the base of therail. 5. 'A metal railway sleeper having'a top terminated longitudinally on one side with a flange intended to penetrate in the ballast to a depth between ..4 and 10 inches and on the other .side with a fiange of very small depth with respect and longitudinal ribs providedkon the lower. face of the top. .1

I 6. A metal railway sleeper having a top terminated longitudinally on oneiside with a flange intended'topenetrate vinthe ballast toa depth between 4 and 12inches and on the other side with another ange the. depthof which is comprisedbetween 1/3' and 1/of the depth of the iirst angewithout-exceeding 2 inches. 'f 7.:A metaly railwaysleeper having a top terminated longitudinally on one side with a fiange intended to penetrate inthe ballast to a depth between '4 and l2 vinches and on the other. side with a' ange thedepth of which is comprised between .1/3'and 1/6 `of the' depth of the first flange without'ex'ceeding 2 inches, and an additional flange disposed on the top above the flange of lesserheight.

`8. A metal railway sleeper having a top terminated longitudinally on one side with a ange intended to `penetrate inthe ballast to a depth between-.4 and 12 inches and on the other side with a flange Athe depth of vwhich is comprised between 1A; and 1/6 of the depth of the first flange without exceeding 2 inches, said flanges being united tothetop'at an angle about 90. f

9. A metal railway sleeper having atop ter'- minated longitudinally on oneV side with a flange ico intended to penetrate in the ballast to a depth between 4v and 12 inches and. on the otherv side with a flange the depth of which is comprised between 1/gand 1/6 of the depth of the first flange without exceeding 2 inches, and an additional nange disposed on the topabove the flange of lesser'height,Y said additional flange being turned downatY the place of the rail.

10. A metal railway sleeper havinga top terminated longitudinallyv on one side with alange intendedv to penetratefin the ballast to a depth between 4'and 12 inches vand `on the other.-l

.Y k; FRNAND DE RossIUs DHUMAN.

side, 7 with .aflangev the depthV of'whichis comprised' 

